A New Project--Part 1

At Sierra Art Trails, Julie Mitchell and I talked more about a little workshop/demo session that we are going to do at Willowbridge Bookstore in Oakhurst in December. We did one there before and decided we want to make the next one much better. The first time, I planned to do a little collage demo and Julie planned to do a little make-it/take-it of paper clay faces. Well, of course, people wanted to do the make-it/take it, me included! So, next time we are going to do an interactive session together,  with each of us doing a part of the presentation/demonstration.

Julie will do the faces, hands, and feet and I will do the bodies and backgrounds. Our participants will  make a card or a little wall hanging.  I have been experimenting with some ideas for the bookstore session and here is what I have come up with so far. I'm sure Julie is doing the same in her studio in Coarsegold and once we both have some samples made, we'll coordinate our efforts in the final planning for the December afternoon.

First, I cut some old mat board scraps into 5 X 7 inch rectangles. The board was gold on one side (the front) and white on the other side (the back). I decided to work on 3 at once so I cut them, colored the edges with a black Sharpie pen, put a black ribbon loop on the back with double-sided tape, and then covered the back with a piece of scrapbook paper, applied with a glue stick. I had to do a little touch-up of the edge with the Sharpie when I was done.

 After the boards were prepared, I started looking through magazines ("Oprah!" is one of my favorites) for pieces to use for heads/faces and for bodies. Here are photos of the 3 faces that I clipped out.

This photo shows the prepared boards with the cut-outs selected for the bodies--which are clock or watch faces--and the 3 heads.

                                                                

In this photo, I laid down a body and a face on background and I also added some checks with a stamp pad and permanent ink, plus a piece of drywall tape to the lower left corner of the piece with the black and white stylized head. They will be glued down with a glue stick, once I have added some wings behind each figure--so they can be angels, though that isn't a necessity.

I decided that all of these little hangings will have a woman, some words, and some checks in them so that I can call them "Checked Chicks" or "Chick Checks" or some such. Working in a series appeals to me, and doing 3 at once means that I can think in similar terms for a period of time and be looking for similar things to cut out etc. I can also use the same materials for a little while and experiment with the same pallette, same supplies and same techniques on all 3 pieces. If I am trying out a new medium or a new technique, I have more than 1 opportunity to get it right, before it's all over for the day, so to speak!

That concludes Part 1 of the small project--Part 2 will soon follow!

Home again!

Here it is, Sunday evening, and I'm home in Sanger again after being away since Tuesday morning. Yesterday, when the design workshop ended, I debated about driving straight home from San Diego but decided I was too tired to do it safely. Plus, I had originally planned to stop off in Pasadena for the Bead and Design Show at the Pasadena Hilton. So, I stayed in Pasadena last night (at the Hilton, which turned out to be a truly wise choice), slept until I woke up, then went downstairs to see the show.

Most of it wasn't highly appealing to me. Bins and bins, strands and strands, rolls and rolls, bags and bags, crystals and more crystals-- beads and findings and chain and all of the tools, books, and accompaniments for the true and dedicated beader. And a true and dedicated beader I am not, though I do play around with beads from time to time and I love the colors, textures, and designs.

What made the day exciting was that in addition to all the beads and supplies, there were some wonderful bead artists there with absolutely gorgeous pieces. The 2 I have to mention are Stephanie Sersich from Maine and Janet Tranfer from Southern California. I didn't buy a piece from Stephanie (though I really wanted to!) but I did buy her book--"Designing Jewelry With Glass Beads". It is a beautiful book with a lot of wonderful projects, clear instructions, and it will be very inspiring. Janet's business is called "Designs by Jantra" and I am including a small photo of her in her booth. Her website is www.designsbyjantra.com and you can see my necklace (the one I purchased with almost no hesitation at all) by clicking right here. It is the second one on the page--the elaborate, colorful one! I will photograph it and post it very soon, but not tonight. After walking the whole show, I am convinced that my heartfelt, impulse buy sent me home with the most exciting piece there--for ME, at least! Janet called it a "Treasure Necklace" and it is a total treasure. I am thrilled to have it and will enjoy wearing it for years to come.

Stephanie Sersich's handblown glass beads are amazing and very unique. I absolutely loved them. I am sure I will purchase at least 1 focal bead from her after I finish studying her book. You can view her jewelry and her beads on her website.

Well, I'm going to call it a day--a LONG day and a long but very rewarding and productive week. I learned a lot, met a lot of very nice people, renewed some old friendships and made some new ones. I feel motivated to continue moving forward in my quest to become a better artist with a clearer message to share with others.

Saturday, the 4th day of an excellent workshop

But I am tired. . . . and energized, all at the same time! I can hardly wait to get home and start painting some new paintings based on what I've learned this week. I have no doubt they will be stronger in terms of design than before, so I am very eager to get to work on some new pieces! My plan is to to figure out some sort of a real schedule and plan to be IN THE STUDIO a certain amount of time each day. I've said that before and not followed through on it. Although I am fairly fast and quite productive, I think I could do a lot more if I was really serious about painting every single day. (And practicing every day. . . .and exercising every day. . . . and. . . .and. . . . !!)

Today, we continued working on the paintings we started yesterday. Karen demonstrated and we followed the steps in the process that she described. At the end of the day, she critiqued the new piece and the ones we did earlier in the week. We all were pleased with what we did, but we realize we have a lot of room to grow, in terms of incorporating really strong design into our paintings.

The photos today show some scenes during the critique time and some other shots of the classroom/kitchen area. San Diego people have NO idea how lucky they are to have such a wonderful set up and location and also to have the caliber of nationally recognized artists that they contract for demos and monthly workshops.


I am so glad that I went and was able to be part of Karen Knutson's workshop! I certainly debated about it because of the expense (hotel, registration, gas, food) but it was well worth it. Thank you, Karen, and thank you to all the San Diego artists for your warmth, hospitality, and friendliness! It was greatly appreciated all week.

Tonight, I am staying in Pasadena so that tomorrow I can go to a Bead and Design Convention before I go home! No work to this one, just fun looking at all the beads, embellishments etc.

Day 3 of the Design Workshop

I had hoped to have time to take photos today of the Naval Training Center buildings and grounds but there wasn't any chance with a full day of painting. I am including a photo I found on line that shows one of the renovated buildings and you can see how nicely done it is. I'll still try to show more on another day.

Day 3 was as wonderful as days 1 and 2, perhaps

 even better because we're starting to "get the hang of it" at last. As opposed to "value sketches", Karen has taught us to make tiny little "design sketches" in just 2 values. They are small and quick to do and finally getting easier. The beauty of learning the process is that we can use 1 sketch for multiple paintings, just by varying colors, values, and subject matter! That is an exciting thought!

The sketch I did today was fun. I really liked it and can see that I can use it in many ways. Another thing she taught us--though I've heard it many times before, but haven't started really doing it--it is take a photo of our paintings in progress, save them on the computer, and look at them in black and white to see if the values are working. It is a very graphic way to analyze our value system while we still can make changes to the painting that will make it a stronger one. I will include a photo of one of the small studies I've been working on here, in black and white.

Thursday/Day 2 of the San Diego Workshop

Whew! I barely made it--"it" being writing today to keep up with my commitment to write something in my blog each and every day. Day 2 of the Design Workshop was outstanding. After class, I went to the Dick Blick store in San Diego and spent a little money and came back to work on a painting I started in class and an assignment for tomorrow. I just finished and am only saying "hello" here today. More tomorrow, hopefully--along with some photos, too.

I want to tell you about the San Diego "Promenade" area where the San Diego Watercolor Society Gallery and classroom is located. It is all part of the renovation effort involving the old Naval Training Center. It's a fabulous project that looks wonderful and is part of a huge community effort in the Point Lomo area of  San Diego. More about it all very soon. Ta Ta for now!

Day 1 of Karen Knutson's workshop

Today was the first day of four in Karen Knutson's workshop on how to design an outstanding, exciting, eye-catching painting using the elements of repetition, variation, and dominance. We worked hard all day and some of us (myself included!) didn't like the 2 small 7 X 7 inch abstract paintings that we did at all during their development. But we persisted and continued to follow her directions. By the time she critiqued them all at the end of the afternoon, they looked amazing! I am using the photo of one of mine with today's post and a photo of about 12 of them once they were up on the wall as a quilt of little paintings. 

Tomorrow, we will approach good design through a different process and we are all eager and excited to see what Day 2 brings. I will keep you posted.

A Whole New World! And an upcoming class.

Little did I know when I started this blog how addictive it is likely to become. I can already tell that I am enjoying mastering the steps necessary to keep improving it. Today, I learned how to link to a document that I want to share by storing it in "storage space" outside my own computer. A major a-ha! It still isn't quite what I need as a final step, but it's certainly more than I knew before.

For example: You need to know that I am going to be teaching a class on January 24, 2009 at the Art Stand Gallery on "Artist Journals and Books." To download the Winter Workshop flyer, click here and print it out. Once you've registered for the class and perhaps other classes, mail it with your check to Elaine Towne Lane at the address shown on the flyer.

In the class, I will show you how to modify purchased books and journals and several ways to make simple artist journals of your own, using a variety of watercolor, mixed media, and collage techniques and supplies. It should be productive and a lot of fun! Hope to see you at the class in January. Between now and then, I am going to take a design workshop in San Diego. More about that in another post. . . .